This fun, no-nonsense 70's drive-in action/drama entry centers on the exciting and dangerous sport of professional motorcross bike racing. Michael Parks plays it cool and easy as J.W. Wyatt, a blunt, scruffy, aging motorcross champ who decides to endorse and help design a fancy new motorcycle for laid-back businessman Packard Gentry (a pleasingly mellow Alex Cord). Alas, Packard gets killed in a motorcycle accident, thus leaving Wyatt and his cocky, swaggering, groupie-chasing yahoo cowboy buddy assistant Digger (the ever-hip Marjoe Gortner) at the mercy of Packard's smug, rigid, by the book advertising executive sister Chris (expertly essayed to bitchy perfection by Susan Howard).
Director Earl ("Speedtrap") Bellamy keeps this playful programmer fresh and lively, maintaining an even narrative keel and firm, fleet pace throughout. The sassy, sparky script by Nancy Voyles Crawford and Thomas A. McMahon astutely captures that distinctly all-American blend of full-blooded machismo, cutthroat competitiveness, and go-for-broke spirit-testing adventure that all the best, most satisfying sports movies ought to possess, dishing out all the guts and glory, plus seize the moment, fly by the seat of your pants charge of adrenaline, that this mighty manly activity naturally entails. Dennis Dalzell's zesty, zeroed-in cinematography depicts all the kick up the dust and dirt, engine-revving, tires a buzzin' motorcross action -- tumbles, peel outs, unlucky riders taking head over butt nasty spills from their mean machines, and so on -- with such bang-up stirring results that you just might be picking sand from your teeth for at least a week. Mundell Lowe's funky, syncopated, aggressively brassy country-flavored score, ably aided by a few tasty Eddie Rabbitt songs, lays on the happening sounds something sweet. Net verdict: quick and steady, this one definitely gets the trophy for being an appealingly unassuming all-around winner.
Director Earl ("Speedtrap") Bellamy keeps this playful programmer fresh and lively, maintaining an even narrative keel and firm, fleet pace throughout. The sassy, sparky script by Nancy Voyles Crawford and Thomas A. McMahon astutely captures that distinctly all-American blend of full-blooded machismo, cutthroat competitiveness, and go-for-broke spirit-testing adventure that all the best, most satisfying sports movies ought to possess, dishing out all the guts and glory, plus seize the moment, fly by the seat of your pants charge of adrenaline, that this mighty manly activity naturally entails. Dennis Dalzell's zesty, zeroed-in cinematography depicts all the kick up the dust and dirt, engine-revving, tires a buzzin' motorcross action -- tumbles, peel outs, unlucky riders taking head over butt nasty spills from their mean machines, and so on -- with such bang-up stirring results that you just might be picking sand from your teeth for at least a week. Mundell Lowe's funky, syncopated, aggressively brassy country-flavored score, ably aided by a few tasty Eddie Rabbitt songs, lays on the happening sounds something sweet. Net verdict: quick and steady, this one definitely gets the trophy for being an appealingly unassuming all-around winner.